10/20/2014 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,October 20,2014 6:30 o'clock p.m. Grittman stated the Comprehensive Plan Amendment,which started last fall and was approved by the City Council in January,was initially on the Metropolitan Council agenda for May of 2014. During that period of time, a determination was made to proceed with an Environmental assessment Worksheet for the project and the City subsequently requested that the Metropolitan Council table action until completion of the EAW process. In September of 2014,the City Council made a negative declaration on the Environmental Assessment finding no potential for significant environmental impacts and further finding that no Environmental Impact Statement was required. The Comprehensive Plan Amendment is currently scheduled for Monday,November 3, 2014. The subject site is zoned RR-1B,which provides for single-family residential uses with lot sizes of two acres and lot widths of 200 feet. To allow for certain design flexibilities,the applicants have requested a Planned Residential Development or PRD. The PRD operates as an overlay district that permits,at the City Council's discretion,a variety of uses and lot dimensions. The applicants are requesting some flexibility under the PRD for lot width, cul-de-sac length, and street design standards. The total building area of the site is slightly under 120 acres and will be comprised of 46 single-family residential lots. One outlot along County Road 19 is also being proposed but will be excluded from the plat for this development. As a result,the future owner will need to submit an application to develop that lot. In addition,there is a second outlot along North Arm that has been proposed by the applicants and neighbors for a possible park. Grittman indicated there are seven lots that are below the 200-foot width standard but all of the lots meet the two acre minimum. In addition to the RR-1B and PRD District regulations,the project is also subject to the Conservation Design principles of the Zoning Ordinance and is a requirement for any subdivision of residential land consisting of five acres or more in area. The applicants have provided a report relating to the goals and requirements of the City's Conservation Design requirements. The applicants are proposing to incorporate 64 acres of the site into a conservation easement,which will be restored and managed as a natural area with the exception of the septic sites. Grittman indicated a number of the septic sites are located within the conservation easement area and the applicants have received some advice from their expert on how to plant and maintain those sites. Grittman noted it will be necessary to incorporate the initial construction requirements into the development contract and the long-term maintenance requirements will need to be incorporated into both the development contract and the homeowners association documents. Access to the subdivision is proposed via a new street connection between North Arm Drive and West Branch Road. To accommodate entrance maneuvers into the site, a right-turn lane along the westbound lane of West Branch is being proposed. The proposed street connection is a through-street and will provide internal access to many of the new parcels by a series of four cul-de-sacs. The applicants have indicated that one of their intents with this roadway was to utilize the site's topography as much as possible. The applicants are proposing 50-foot width on the rights-of-way along with 28-foot wide streets with shoulders and rural-section ditches. The streets within the subdivision are proposed to be privately owned by the homeowners association,with the rights-of-way being located in outlots. The main road into the development will be intersected by four cul-de-sacs. According to the subdivision ordinance, cul-de-sacs may not measure greater than 1,000 feet in length with no more than 10 units being provided access by a cul-de-sac. One of the cul-de-sacs measures 1,200 feet in length and exceeds the maximum standard. In this particular case,the use of a cul-de-sac rather than a through street, will minimize the land area Page 4 of 28